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March 04, 2013 at 05:12 AM
LPL Financial launched a retirement plan platform to help employers provide their workers with an improved 401(k) experience, the firm announced Monday.
“For something that is most people’s primary asset at retirement, [401(k) plans are] light on real advice and education,” Bill Chetney, executive vice president for LPL Retirement Partners, told AdvisorOne on Friday. “The biggest gap in the 401(k) industry is participant experience.”
For many participants, Chetney said, the extent of the advice they get in their 401(k) plan is to be lumped in with participants with similar characteristics. “They ask their age and say, ‘OK, we’re going to stick you with the other 30-year-olds,” he said.
The Worksite Financial Solutions platform helps sponsors and advisors provide more in-depth advice to plan participants regarding their investments, and helps employees assess their own financial wellness and identify the best solution for their needs when they leave the plan. The platform can be branded for the advisor or the plan sponsor and can be delivered online or in person, Chetney said.
“The first leg” of the platform, Chetney said, “is to take away the onerous task of creating an investment portfolio from people with limited expertise.” To do that, LPL partnered with Morningstar for the advice component of the platform. LPL advisors will meet with participants to help them “invest on a discretionary basis, regardless of what’s offered in the investment menu.”
